Everyone who has seen the 1986 scifi classic Aliens likely remembers Ripley calling out to the alien queen, saying, “Get away from her you b!@%#.” Her confidence wasn’t based upon her own strengths – the alien is well suited to take on Vin Diesel, let alone a 120lb actress. She had a power loader, and soon we may have one, too. Activelink, a Panasonic subsidiary venture, is working on a “power amplification robot” that receives input from the operator through force sensors. If the operator lifts his or her leg, the sensors in the leg register the motion and duplicate it with the strength of motor-driven…

One would have to look at politics or religion to find more divisive topics than an alien presence and specifically the Roswell incident of 1947. The letter above has been examined, ridiculed, lauded, and everything in between over the years with no consensus as to its authenticity. In researching this piece, it was clear that those who believed in aliens were adamantly in support of the document and claimed that attempts to debunk it were misdirection techniques from the government. Those who don’t believe in aliens called it things such as “a letter from Santa Claus” and refused to give it validity….

Between a budget shortfall in California and cuts in federal funding, the ongoing “Search for ExtraTerrestrial Intelligence” is going into hibernation mode this month. Mountain View’s SETI Institute has pulled the plug on the Allen Telescope Array, a field of radio dishes that scan space for signals from aliens. Tom Pierson, CEO of SETI Institute, sent an email to major sponsors. “Effective this week, the ATA has been placed into hibernation due to funding shortfalls for operations of the Hat Creek Radio Observatory (HCRO) where the ATA is located.” So, what is it going to take? With automakers,…

Stephen Hawking has spoken out about extraterrestrials, and is almost certain they exist. Furthermore, he believes that humans should be extremely cautious about first encounters. “We only have to look at ourselves to see how intelligent life might develop into something we wouldn’t want to meet. I imagine they might exist in massive ships, having used up all the resources from their home planet. Such advanced aliens would perhaps become nomads, looking to conquer and colonise whatever planets they can reach.” If this sounds familiar, it’s because the uber-genius is paraphrasing from almost…